LORDS IIAMILTON, EARLS OF ARRAN, DUE:ES OF CIIATELUERAULT, 31.klIQUISFS or HAMILTON, DUKES OF HAmILTON, DUNES OF BRANDON, etc.—Hitherto the family liLd been only kniolmtly. It was ennobled in its sixth generation, in sir James of Hamilton of Cadyow, woo, in 1445, was created lord Hamilton by a charter which erected his manor place of " the Orchard," in time barony of Cadyow, into his chief messuage, and gave it the name of Hamilton, which it still bears. It is to the praise of the first lord Hamilton that, in 1460, lie founded a college in the university of Glasgow—the first college in Scotland founded by a layman. Allied both by marriage and by descent to the Domedases, he followed their banner in the beginning of their great struggle with time crown. But he forsook them at a critical moment in 1454, and his seasonable loyalty was rewarded by large grants of their forfeited lands, and, at a later period, when he must have been well advanced in years, by the hand of the princess Mary, the eldest daughter of king James II., and the widow or divorced wife of Thomas Boyd, the attainted earl of Arran. Lord Hamilton survived his marriage only live years, dying in 1478. His only son, James, second lord Hamilton, was, in 1503, made earl of Arran, and had a great of thtmUlazatithe Iowryof hiS Mother on ]ter first mili)sriag,e. Alter playing an important part in public affairs during the minority of king James V., he died in 1529, being succeeded by the eldest son of his third wife (a niece of cardinal Beaton), -Tames, third lord Hamilton, second earl of Arran. The death of king James V. in 1542 left only an infant of live days old between him and the throne. He was at once chosen regent of the kingdom and tutor to the young queen, and declared to be "second person in the realm"-a position which carried with it something of royal style. He signed or superscribed his name as "James G." or simply "James," and wrote himself "James, by the grace of God, earl of Arran and lord Hamilton, governor and prince of Scotland." Ile held his high offices till 1534, when lie resigned them in favor of the queen-mother, Mary of Guise, receiving in return, from king henry II. of France, a giant of the duchy of Chatelheranit. Ills nearness to the throne, his great following, and large possessions, left him still a person of such mark that his eldest son, the earl of Arran, as he was called, was proposed at one time as the husband of queen Mary of Scotland, and at another time as the husband of queen Elizabeth of England. The career which opened with such high aspirations came to a sad and untimely end; the earl was afflicted with madness in 1562, and never recovered his reason, although he lived t1111609. His father, the first duke of Chatelherault, dying in 1575, his second son, lord John Hamilton, the lay-abbot or commendator of Arbroath, became virtual head of the house, and as such was, in 1599, created marquis of Hamilton. He died in 1604, being succeeded by his son James, the second marquis, who, in 1619, was created earl of Cambridge in England, and died in 1625. Ile was succeeded by his eldest son James, the third marquis; who led an army of 6,000 men to the support of king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1631-32, and a few years later acted a con spicuous part in the great contest between king Charles I. and the Scottish Covenanters.
ghat king, in 1643, created him duke of Hamilton, with remainder to the heirs-female of his body, in the event of the death of himself and his brother without male issue. In 1648 he led a Scottish army into England for the king's relief, but was encountered and defeated by Cromwell at Preston, in Lancashire. He escaped from the field of battle, but soon afterwards was forced to surrender himself prisoner to the parliamentary forces. He was beheaded at Westminster in March, 1649, when he was succeeded by his brother William, who, in 1639, had been created earl of Lanark. lie died in 1051 of the wounds tvhich he had received at the battle of Worcester. The duchy of Ham ilton, in terms of the patent of creation, now devolved on the daughter of the first duke, lady Anne, whose husband, lord William Douglas, earl of Selkirk, was, in 1660, created duke of Hamilton for life. He died in 1694. The duchess Anne, who survived till 1716, had, in 1698, resigned her titles in the king's hands in favor of her eldest son, James, earl of Arran, who was anew created duke of Hamilton with the precedency of 1043. In 1711 he was created duke of Brandon in England, but the house of lords refused him a seat or vote in parliament, on the ground that the crown was disabled by the act of union from granting a peerage of Great Britain to any person who was a peer of Scotland before the union. The duke was killed in a duel in Hyde park with lord Mohuu in 1712. He was succeeded by his eldest son, James, who, dying in 1743, was succeeded by his eldest son, James, who, in 1752, married the famous beauty, Elizabeth Gunning, and died in 1758, being succeeded by his eldest son, James George, an infant of three years old. On the death of the duke of Douglas in 1761, the male representa tion of the "red" or Angus branch of the Douglases, with the titles of marquis of Douglas, earl of Angus, etc., devolved on the dukes of Hamilton, as descendants of the duchess Anne's husband, William, earl of Selkirk, third son of the first marquis of Douglas. Dying in 1769, in his 15th year, James George, seventh duke of Hamilton, was succeeded by his only brother, Douglas, who, in 1782 took his seat in parliament as duke of Brandon, the house of lords being now satisfied, after consultation with the twelve judges, that the act of union did not prohibit the crown from making a peer of Scotland a peer of Great Britain. Duke Douglas died without issue in 1799, when the titles and estates passed to his uncle, Archibald, the second sou of James, the fifth duke. Duke Archibald, dying in 1819, was succeeded by his eldest son, Alexander, -tvlio, in 1810, married a daughter of Mr. Beekford, of Fonthill, and died in 1852, when le was succeeded by his only son, William Alexander Anthony Archibald, eleventh duke of Hamilton in the peerage of Scotland. He died in 1863, and was succeeded by Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas Hamilton, the present duke, who was born in 1845.